Converting a Dry Food Addict

Hi. I dunno who thought of setting up this forum but I just want to say how glad I am that I found it while doing my research. I have learned more in the last four weeks since Silver started on the juice than I have learned from my vet since diagnosis 2 months ago. I was at the end of my rope. Cried buckets, stressed all my friends out with my cat talk, and finally, I find a group of like minded kitty lovers with a vast wealth of knowledge. Stress relief in spades.

Thank you!!

Juliet

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Ditto, Ditto and Ditto.

I'm not as stressed as I was when I first took over care of Hank.

As a matter of fact, I feel I'm more confident, knowledgeable and patient (except for the wet food thing) Nana to Hank because of this forum.

Thank you.

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

That's funny he doesn't take to wet food. Mine think they're in heaven getting this new treat. Does he just turn his nose up at it? My mom says to me re the cats that they'll eat if they're hungry enough. (Sasha refuses to eat anything but FF fish varieties).

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

I blame it on living with my son.

My son said that Hank's favorite foods are (were) tomatoes, watermelon and Doritos!!

I have tried so many different things! Yes BJM, I even baked it! Sniffed and walked away!

This morning I put just a little wet food in his dish, sprinkeled with forti flora and covered it with his dry. He sniffed and walked away! Argh!!
I even left him for a half an hour with it. When I went downstairs to "kitty land", he was laying on the coffee table waiting for me.

Like I have said, I am going to have ONE HECK of a PARTY when Hank finally eats wet food!! :lol:

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Have you just got one cat? Any dogs? If you left it he would eat it eventually when he gets hungry enough so long as no other pet pinches it. Not so easy if you're giving insulin tho.

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

I have a cat named Oscar.

Also 3 dogs; Maggie, Jackson, Gus, and 2 granddoggies (my sons) Luke and Joey that come over while my son is at work. :smile:
Dogs don't go down to "kitty land" but cats can come upstairs, which they do. They all get along.

Surprisingly, Oscar is not interested in Hanks nor is Hank interested in Oscar's (Oscar converted over to the wet but not easily either) food.

Yeah, I really can't hold out on the food for Hank because he is on insulin.

Oh, where is the "kitty fairy godmother" when you need her? :lol:

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Lol! I hear you

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Eh, well, it was worth a shot!

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

One fairy Cat grandmother to the rescue...

Okay so I don't have wings or a wand and I look absolutely frightening in a glittery tutu...But I have not failed yet to break a dry food addiction. And we're at 18 and counting so far.

Here are the things to try and yes, some of them you are going to just shoot insulin around until they catch a clue and get with the program.

Some of these you may have tried others you may not have even thought of.

Heating it up in the microwave for about 10 secs so its nice and stinky.
Sprinkling it with Parmesan Cheese
Sprinkling it with Catnip
If he loves Doritos then while not diabetic friendly, crush up a few Doritos and dust the top.

if all the above fails with what we want him to eat then you pull out the big guns.
Cassanova was a confirmed dry food addict, when I first set a bowl of pate in front of him he looked at me like I had lost my mind.
So with him first it went those little pouches of soft kibble, not diabetic friendly but at least a step in the right direction..
Next once he was eating those reliably we went to phase 2, Whiska's Purely Chicken and Purely Fish pouches. Still not diabetic friendly but at least lower in carbs than either the hard or soft kibble. So again once he gave in and decide that was acceptable food, we went to pate, at first it was Fancy Feast Kitten Formula, no water added just chopped into chunks. Then moved to chunks of regular adult cat FF and finally over to the Friskies everyone else was eating...Ta Da a convert was born.

Now Cass screams louder than anyone else in this house when I pull out the food dishes and start popping can lids. Oh does he sing for his supper. We still tease him when he's singing and dancing for his meal that remember You don't like wet food...lol

Mel and The Fur Gang

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

interesting look!

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Dang! Beat me to it. I was just about to say you could find a great one in Relaxed Lantus. :lol:

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

:lol:

I never thought that it would be this much work to convert Hank!

Ok, you're on MommaofMuse (is your name Mel?)!!

If I can get Hank converted on any of your tips, you get a raise!! :lol:
Or a new wand or a pretty tutu!!

I've tried heating it (which I do every time).
I've tried parmesan cheese, and he eats what isn't touching the wet food.
My son says he doesn't like catnip but I'll try that one anyway.
And all the rest I haven't tried.

So I'm going to copy/paste what you've suggested and take it to the store with me.
Now I feel inspired again!

I will win this one! :smile:

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Have you tried Stella & Chewy's? Its a freeze dried food. If I sprinkle a bit of Tummy Ticklin Turkey on top of wet food I am the best mommy in the world in this house. When I rehydrate it for my senior we about have to put it under lock and key while it rehydrates to keep the rest of the clan from eating it on us.

I do have one dry food hold out in my house, so I understand the difficulty. Thankfully not a diabetic. She came from a hoarder house so I don't push her on the subject since she already has some binge and purge issues. She will eat the dried up crumbs from the wet food that fall on the floor next to the plate stands, but that's about it. Dry food and people food are what she wants and don't try to make her eat anything else. I've gotten her to lick the Whiska's purple tubs and that is the only time she's tried it on the plate.

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Yes Kimmie

I'm Mel short for Melody

Muse was my very first extra sweet girl, but sadly she didn't survive very long after she was dxed as a diabetic, but because of her leading me to this board, she left behind a living legacy of Lord Maxwell (4 years OTJ and adopted from this board and DCIN), Autumn (also adopted as diabetic from DCIN) and Cassanova (adopted as diabetic from a private party). After Muse earned her wings I left my user name the same in her memory. While I can no longer hold her in my arms I will always be her momma and hold her in my heart.

Mel and The Fur Gang

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

My diabetic cat Wink was a confirmed "dry food addict" also. It took 6-8 weeks to convince him that canned food was edible. I used almost every trick listed in Dr. Lisa Pierson's great article on Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Wet Food.

Have you tried the "chip and dip method"? Take a few pieces of dry food, dip them in the canned food and offer them on a plate.

Halo Liv-a-little freeze dried chicken treats, crumbled over the food. I'd have to crumble a bit more over the top of the food as he ate the bits with the freeze dried chicken on them. Maybe 3-5 times each meal of crumbling a bit more of the freeze dried chicken treats. My Wink loved the Halo more than the Pure Bites freeze dried chicken.

Various flavors? Wink hated the fishy flavors and finally deigned to eat the Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblet flavor as his favorite. Took about 6-8 more weeks to get him consistently eating other flavors. Now he likes both the Fancy Feast pates and the Friskies Special Diet pates, but still no fish for him please.

A smorgasboard? Try offering little bits of several different foods at one time. It's how I found out that the fish flavors were a no go, but some of the other flavors were acceptable.

Tried offering only the canned food for an hour or so before you put down any dry food. Use your cats natural hunger drive to attempt to get him to try the wet food.

Hold the dish for your kitty? Put it right in their face and they may try it.

Put a bit of wet food on your finger for him to sniff and try?

A bit of tuna juice poured over the top of the wet food?

My Wink was such a hard core dry food addict, that when I went to move all the dry food out of my house and I left a bag in the hallway while I went to get some more food to move out to the garage, he chewed through the unopened bag of dry food! In like 30 seconds. The good news is that Wink shortly went OTJ (off the Juice, insulin being the juice) after we were able to switch him entirely to wet food.

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL if you have a long, transition period. You may need to frequently and dramatically drop the insulin dose as your cat eats more and more wet food. I should have cut Wink's insulin dose more drastically then I did. Although he had some low numbers, in the 30's and 40's, he was not a symptomatic hypoglycemic except for really dilated pupils that did not react to light. I had several sleepless nights and worrisome days when his numbers were low. Thankfully, I was home testing and could manage his numbers by feeding him a bit of food to bring the BG levels back up.

Persistence and patience, patience, patience. Yes, there are times you will throw up your hands in despair at ever getting your cat to eat canned food. But it can be done.

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Thank you Melanie, Mel and Deb.

Sorry for the slow response back. This is the first I've been on since around noon on Thursday. I had to be at work on Thursday at 6am and today (Fri) at 5 AM. Early mornings are killers even though I'm a morning person.

Melanie,
No, I haven't tried Stella and Chewy's. Tummy Ticklin Turkey you say? I imagine I order it online. Could you please let me know where? Thank you, it's worth a try.

Mel,
I was wondering about your screen name. Muse must have been a very special kitty. I believe that there are no coincidences in life. You were meant to be Muse's momma to learn about feline diabetes to help others with their sugar kitty's as well as your own kitty's. Who knows, you probably are the "kitty fairy Godmother". :smile:

Deb,
I have read, as well as printed out, the great article by Dr. Pierson. I've tried most of the tricks too with no avail. No, I haven't tried the "chip and dip method". That's worth a try.

I've been meaning to order the Halo Liv-a-little treats since I've heard others rave about them. Do you have the link to the site I can order them from? I've tried a couple different freeze dried chicken treats from PetsMart and he won't touch them. But my dogs sure like them!

Yes, I've offered different flavors but Hank won't try any kind.

I would love to just leave the wet offered to Hank down for an hour but I'd have to put it down at 4-4:30am. I have read that kitty's shouldn't eat 2 hours before their shot. :YMSIGH:

I will try some of the other tips that you've mentioned.

Thank you all for sending me ideas because I was feeling like I was all out of ideas.

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

You can try the finger pop method too - get a pea sized bit of canned food, then pop it in. Pressing it on the roof of the mouth helps keep it in there a little longer. Sometimes, you just have to push a little.

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Does your kitty Hank like treats such as Pure Bites? My kitty loves them so if she ever turns up her nose to a new food, I sprinkle the crumbs of the Pure Bites onto the food and she licks it up!

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

No, where do I get Pure Bites?

Kimmie

 

Re: Praise for the FDMB

Most large pet supply stores will have PureBites or something similar. You want plain meat or poultry, no added anything. The dog version will likely be more economical, though yoou'll need to break it into smaller pieces.

 

PetSmart sticks them Kimmie.

I renamed thd thread as my original title doesn't apply

 

Thanks Ruth, BJM and Juliet.

I'll look at Petsmart for the Purebites.

Sorry Juliet. I did not mean for the mention of Hank not liking wet food to over take the thread.

Kimmie

 

No worries

 

SOME Petsmart stores stock the Pure Bites, some don't. My local Petsmart down in Danvers MA never has them. My local Petco in Topsfield MA does have them. Never have figured out why one Petsmart store would stock these and another one would not. Go figure! You might want to contact your local store first before you go.

For the Halo Liv-a-little freeze dried chicken treats, I order from Chewy.com. Here is a link for you. http://www.chewy.com/dog/halo-liv-littles-grain-free-100/dp/29214

For some reason, my Wink liked the Halo treats much better at the beginning, but now he is a convert to the Pure Bites freeze dried chicken treats. I did find that the Halo treats were much easier to crumble over his food, almost as fine as a powder. The Pure Bites treats did not break up as easily.